2 1/2 minutes left. do you want to see volatility? here's what the dow did this week. look at that. that would be a great roller-coaster ride at a six flags park, wouldn't it be? we needed to be up 92 points today to finish positive for the week. that's not going to happen. does that matter to you, matt? it's a question we're all asking. are you surprised this market's higher ahead of a critical weekend for cyprus? >> absolutely. but i've been surprised it's been higher for a long time coming. the volatility you're showing is only 120 points on the dow. that's really less than 1%. it's really not much of a factor. we're seeing that from the you mean side as well. >> you have been seeing increased volume, though, and good activity you like in apple and blackberry. >> tremendous in apple. we're seeing apple almost being traded like a bond. buying it for the yield, getting the capital appreciation. blackberry with all the luster today really flopped and we're seeing that to the sell side. apple sold off. apple's now being bought up. blackberry's selling off.

that's great action at least from a trading perspective. >> you see the commitments in terms of buyers and apple? >> absolutely. the sentiment has definitely turned. two weeks ago, it was really negative. now it's turned to the buy side, and i think there's some capital appreciation, there's upside there, the potential is there to buy apple. >> i'm going to jump, get ready for the next hour. bill, good to see you. have a great weekend. by the way, does a bad economy bring euphoria to the walking dead? >> i think it does. >> we'll talk to the creator later. >> that would be her zombie walk there, as she moves on to the next hour of the "closing bell". >> do earnings matter or is it still about the fed? >> it seems like earnings mattered yesterday a little bit. i don't think cyprus was the reason we sold out. are they going to matter going forward? i don't think so. not for the next three months. the fed is still the major factor in this. cyprus isn't a factor yet. earnings aren't a factor. the fed has definitely cleared the -- >> it's about liquidity in this market. >> absolutely. i would like to see more liquidity as far as volume goes. you get an 85-point rally off

yesterday's sell-off, small volume, not much of a factor. but cyprus will lead the day monday morning in a short week. >> all right. thank you, matt, very much. all right, we've got a market coming back a little bit. needed to be up 92 to be positive for the week. we're ten points away from that. it's like a racehorse heading towards the finish line. can they do it? will they make it positive for the week? you'll find out coming up in the second hour of the "closing bell." have a lovely weekend. it is 4:00 on friday on wall street. do you know where your money is? hi, everybody. welcome back to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo on the floor of the new york stock exchange. stocks are finishing the week higher on the day, but lower for the week. we've got a gain of 91 points, just a fraction lower for the week. we came very close to actually closing positive on the week. take a look at how we're settling out on wall street right now with a rally once again underway. the dow jones industrial average

finishing up 91 points at 14,512 on the session, very close to an all-time record high. amazing. nasdaq composite up 22 points and the s&p 500 up 11. so what is next for the market? we bring in david darsche and our own rick santelli. good to see you, guys. >> hello, maria. >> john, what are you expecting from this market the next couple of weeks headed into earnings season? >> well, right now we're kind of going sideways, doing a little bit of consolidation. obviously the cyprus news didn't help too much. but the fact that we were able to absorb fedex news, as well as oracle and bad print detail last night, and nike, actually helped us out last night. but the fact that we were able to go sideways, we haven't really sold off gives the bull some more hope here. >> i like that you're saying that, because i know fedex caught a lot of people by surprise. the transports breaking down

caught a lot of people by surprise. and i'm wondering if that tells us anything about the upcoming first quarter reporting season. david sowerby, are you changing your behavior in any way as a result of what we saw in earnings this week? >> no, i'm not. i think the longer term case for stocks is still very much in tact. and more retail and institutional investors will be rotating into stocks. in the very near term, don't be surprised if europe wins the tug-of-war in a near-term. that it's still going to be more problematic than wall street is expecting. and this week is a bit of a microcosm of that. we saw small-cap stocks down more than large-cap stocks, emerging markets down more than markets. >> yeah, it's amazing, david. because even though this market has been rallying since november, october, actually, 2012, valuations, 13 p.e., 14 or 15 p.e., when you look at forward looking. still, during the dot-com era,

it was 27 p.e. valuations are not stretched by any stretch of the imagination. what you want to watch, maria, the strong dollar this year is going to hurt the overseas profits that they bring back into dollars. >> the currency, yeah. >> that means these other currencies are weaker and they bring those currencies back home into dollars. it's going to be worth less. so you want to watch that very, very carefully. also keep your eye on china, brazil, russia, india. listen to this. korea's down 7% this year. china's down 4% this year. asia has not participated. we recently, this week -- >> well, japan has participated. >> japan is on fire. but the japanese yen weakening is hurting the korean producers, because they compete with japan, and the korean yuan has gone up versus the yen. you want to be very careful, same with china. japan has become more competitive within asia and that brings you back to these japan hedge ld equities that we've

talked about for so long. keep your eye on the profits and the personal income. next friday, expected to be up 1%. it will be on good friday. happy easter, everybody, and happy pessoc to all our members of the jewish faith. happy passover. >> yes, absolutely. in terms of making money in this market right now, where are you seeing the commitment on the buy side? >> the commitment remains the same. it's oil and gas, obviously, that's the biggest story going forward. housing is the other big story. we're seeing a lot of money moving into leisure stocks, as we said earlier. home away, an online trip adviser almost, is making new highs. we see that, obviously, the -- more or less, the move overseas into other type of leisure stocks is doing well. i think that, also, the various

financials still see a lot of flows. you mentioned apple earlier. the fact that bill miller took a big position and said that it was his next big stock going forward, that stock has obviously rallied this week. so we're seeing people moving cash into apple. you see the home builders did well. lennar, kb homes, not only did they post good earnings, but the fact that their backlogs are off the chart. you're looking at backlogs at 70, 80%, talking about billion-dollar backlogs when housing isn't even got back to the levels that it's been pre-crisis. >> and, of course, rick santelli, everybody talked to, says housing has bottomed and in fact continues to improve. has that had an impact on fixed income? >> you know, it has. because it's gone from being a headwind, think gdp, to being a bit of an add into the number. but i think that maybe it's a little bit overzealous in terms of where we go from here. remember, in a lot of these purchases in houses, you listen to diana olick, is people that

are in the business of buying and then renting. i think the first-time home buyer numbers aren't as good as some people may think. but ultimately, down here, anyway, most think that the sweet spot for equities, let's not say we agree how we got there, will continue, and interstates will be lower rather than higher, think europe, and in terms of cyprus, i just got an e-mail from a friend that understands the situation pretty good, and he said that about 12% of the deposits in greece are cypriot deposits. so the outcome could have a big impact on greece, and i think the continued slowness, just the general economy in europe, ultimately catches up to stocks. but it's one of the reasons i think you're going to see interest rate complex responding with a lot less selling, pushing rates up, than many have been talking. now from rockland trust. right damon, thanks for joining the conversation. what's your takeaway from this week and what are you expecting in terms of catalysts for this

market in the next couple of weeks? >> yeah, well, certainly, cyprus is going to be an overhang. the market has come a long way very quickly. we've had a good start to 2013. we've had -- we had a very good 2012 stock since the beginning of 2012 are up over 22%. so something like cyprus is going to clearly rattle the markets. but that said, we're pretty constructive on equities at this point. >> and in terms of sectors, what do you think leads this market rest of the year? >> well, i think near-term, it's going to be probe more defensive in nature than cyclical. we're going to see a little bit of pause in the preference for risk assets, given concerns in cyprus, also some weak economic data coming out of germany. so, clearly, we're going to have a little bit of pause in risk. you're going to see some of the more defensive asset classes,

health care, other high dividend-paying sectors, potentially doing better in the near-term. however, for the rest of the year, i continue to think that more cyclically sensitive industrials like technology can do better. >> and what do you think about -- >> i think there's got to be more offense. >> go ahead, say it again. >> maria, i think there's got to be more offense. that the auto and housing story is still in tact. that the energy infrastructure story for the u.s. is very much in tact. dresser and trinity are two plays there, and those are stocks we've talked about throughout this year. and they're going to be the stocks we're talking about in december of this year still. >> maria, i agree you have to play -- >> go ahead. >> i agree that you want to be playing offense here, in the long-term. i mean, if you look at the trends in capital spending on the corporate sector, even though unemployment is still high, it has come down.

hiring is occurring. and you are going to see -- you can't keep hiring people and not give them computers to work with. so i think that, eventually, capital spending is going to catch up with employment, and that's going to also be a driver. >> maria, you want to own your health care stocks, johnson and johnson, pfizer, abbott. and in that oil services industry, schlumberger, halliburton, and baker international. you cannot get to that shale gas nor shale oil. mexico cannot touch theirs. and you're going to see further reform in the energy sector coming on in mexico. this guy has had a phenomenal first hundred days. enrique penyetto. he's reforming the television industry. so watch mexico, but you can't play mexico more cleanly than schlumberger, baker and halliburton. >> i agree on mexico. i'm hearing an enormous amount of money moving into mexico. i think it's a great story. thanks, everybody. have a great weekend.

>> go ahead, john? what do you want to say, john? >> i said, we just started our derivatives in fx business in mexico so we're ready to go. >> and we love you, rick santelli. we love you! >> see you soon, guys. thanks very much. and it was an up and down week for stocks. bob pisani now recapping all the action. >> bottom line is we ended not far from the highs of the day, not enough to get us into positive territory for the week. look at the dow. what a difference a year makes. if this would have been a year ago, going into uncertainty on a major event happening in cyprus, we would have been selling, now everybody's buying because we think everything's going to work out okay. a different attitude than there was a year ago. different look at some of the earnings. micron, nike, tiffany, all with positive numbers. look at those nice moves up. it still didn't erase the memory of earlier in the week when we had oracle, fedex, caterpillar. those are bellwether names and they really weighed on the markets. we had a lot of ipos this week.

a little bit disappointment with marin software. priced at 14, opened at 19. my heavens, that was a big open. i'll tell you my rule here. any time an ipo opens at the top and ends at the bottom, i don't care what the price is, that's a little bit of disappointment overall here. let's talk about next week, though. ipos, pinnacle foods. this is a famous company, famous brand name, solaceick, birds eye, aunt je my ma. it's close enough. and s&p had its worst week all year. have a good weekend. >> bob, you too. see you next week. reading the signs to find out if this market is about to embark on a bumpy ride. that's next. the dow transportation average just pointed the worst week of 2013. what does that mean for the rally we've been seeing all year? just ahead, a debate on the so-called dow theory. and then, online shoppers, beware. you may get slapped with a new

internet tax being handed down from capitol hill. that story, just ahead. and later, giving new meaning to the term zombie economy. >> they see you as killers. they're training to attack. >> i'll tell you what, next time you see phillip, you tell him i'm going to take his other eye. >> the creator of "the walking dead," robert kirkman, attributes part of his show's success to the financial crisis. kirkman will join me later to explain. you're watching the "closing bell" on cnbc, first in business, worldwide. [ male announcer ] this is a reason to look twice. the stunning lexus es. get great values on your favorite lexus models during the command performance sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection. how do traders using technical analysis streamline their process? at fidelity, we do it by merging two tools into one. combining your customized charts with leading-edge analysis tools from recognia so you can quickly spot key trends and possible entry and exit points. we like this idea so much that we've applied for a patent.

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welcome back. the dow transportation average notching its worst week of the year this week. josh lipton assessing t ining i damage. yosh josh? >> you look under the hood, what's driving the transports lower, fedex getting slammed. the company telling us this week that third quarter earnings dropped 31%. still, even with this week's losses, remember that transports are well in the green this year, up some 16%. back to you guys. >> all right, josh, thank you. many investors, of course, follow the theory that transports are a good bellwether for stocks. and they led the way as the dow

smashed through its all-time high, high after high, in the last couple of weeks. with the index lagging this weekend, what's it say about where the markets are headed now? josh luna says the dow transports are passe and not very relevant for today's markets. robert, why do you think the dow transports are a bad indicator for the markets? >> i think the dow transports, prior to the 1970s, were a really good indicator. but since then, both technically and fundamentally, they just don't make sense anymore. you know, bespoke did some analysis on this and they actually showed that when you didn't get the confirmation from the transports, the following six months in the market, you actually had a rate of return of about 6.5%, which is 2% above the average. and fundamentally, maria, when you take a look at what the index was doing in the 1970s, that makes sense. what was in the dow jones industrial at that time? american can gone, bethlehem steel gone. today you have cisco, ibm,

american express. they're not as independent on union pacific moving their goods today as those companies were back in the 1970s, let's say. >> jeff, what do you think? you're worried about what's happened to the transports this week. >> well, i think that what i like about the transports index is just kind of the opposite of what robert said. it actually is a fundamental and a technical indicator and it tells the us, as we saw with the results from caterpillar and from fedex, of economic weakness. now, we can use to disregard that if we like to, but i would still like to believe that fundamentals do matter. and we did see that transport index come off somewhat. my takeaway from it is it's showing you that this rally is a little bit overheated. it's not supported by some of the fundamentals out there and we really need to kind of rethink whether we could be finally getting to that point where this market catches its breath. >> well, i mean, where are you going to put the money? are you saying that you want to get out of the way because the transports have broken down and raise cash or put it in a different asset class? >> i'm really glad you asked

that, because i want to direct our viewers, if i could, to a post i did on cnbc.com earlier today. that all this talk about the grim rotation of money out of bonds into equities has not happened. we see that week after week in fund flows. i think bonds still matter. i think you still need to have a fundamental portfolio allocation here. i've said this over and over. i'm very worried about how far we've gone out on the risk curve, that we've been pushed out there by the fed, and we need to really realize that we are still in a very slow growth environment. >> well, robert, let me ask you about earnings and whether or not we are going to see an upset once we start getting the numbers for the first quarter. the s&p capital iq is expecting earnings growth for the s&p 500 of 0.6%, no great shakes, that's for sure. >> i agree with that maria. and i think this has really become a position in the market, where we have had a great run. so you don't necessarily go out there with the broad-based index. you have to look at selective stories to invest your money in

right now. the transports, first and foremost to us, were looking a little bit overvalued anyway. but if you break the transports down and you look at a company like csx or a norfolk southern, for example, those companies have continued to hit highs this week, and that's based off of valuation. fedex was a company, in my opinion, that was priced for perfection, they came out and reported lousy earnings and that doesn't surprise me. i think u.p.s. is a much better company. they didn't get hurt nearly as bad. it's really just a story of picking the companies that are able to perform in this environment. i think that's what's going to get you through. >> i would suggest that the whole market is priced for perfection at this point. >> what's priced for perfection? if you're talking about a p.e. of 13, 14, is that overvalue? >> i think you have to go back to, you know, what i've said, is that e., you have to be very careful at how you look at that e., that earnings number. that earnings number is based on what i believe is a false earnings number, on rates that are far too low. i think you're going to start to

see some of that drift up. and you're going to see, i think, we're going to realize in retrospect that this market is not as cheap as it looks, and just at 13 by itself, you cannot look at that number in a vacuum, that we do have a swaluativalua problem there. >> gentleman, thank you very much. we'll be watching. next week will be a big week. up next, nowhere to hide. a new internet sales tax could be on the way. we'll take you live to washington and get the latest developments on that. and there are two sides to every story and this tax is no different. the debate, coming. and later, hollywood has made money from monsters since silent films have hit the screens. now it is your turn. brian shactman will be here with how you can cash in on the zombie craze. plus, the man who started the craze, "walking dead" creator robert kirkman is with us today. he says his show's success may be helped by what happened in the financial crisis in 2008. back in a moment. ♪

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thank you orville and wilbur... ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future... by clinging to the past.

and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind... delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions... in everything from the best experiences below... to the finest comforts above. we're not simply saluting history... we're making it. welcome back. a controversial proposal has lawmakers in washington duking it out again over a plan for a national sales tax on goods sold online. john harwood with the very latest right now in washington. hi, john. >> maria, the senate's taking up its budget resolution, and as part of that, they're now considering a series of amendments to the resolution, some of which, including this one that you mention, on online sales taxes are a bit of a test vote to see what support's going to be for this proposal. it doesn't enact a new tax, but what it does is takes states, 48

of whom already require the collection of state sales taxes on online purchases, and standardizes the collection. because a lot of people ignore the collection of those taxes. the advocates of this say it would raise about $23 billion at the state level. it would require a shift by states from collection on annual tax returns, some tax forms have a notation that says, did you make any online purchases, and then you report the taxes. that's not very workable. so instead, they want it done at the point of purchase, and they want states to provide software to remote sellers so that they can collect it. the question is, what's the level of support? the house doesn't like it very much. they have a very anti-tax position. there's bipartisan support for this in the senate, also bipartisan opposition and richard durbin and mike enzi, two of the sponsors, democrat and republican, are trying to see if they have 60 votes, because if they do, they can press it later in the year. but the outcome of this is a little bit cloudy at this moment, maria. i wouldn't bet it being enacted

in this congress. >> john, thank you. joining me now, two guests with radically different views on taxing on the internet. he says why tax the one thing that's growing right now? and ted is executive vice president at the retail counsel of new york state and he thinks taxing internet sales is long overdue and fair. good to see you, gentleman. larry, you think taxing internet sales would put a damper on new businesses and economic growth. how? >> absolutely, it's anti-business, it's anti-capitalism. the only thing that's growing right now is the internet. and the reason why the internet is growing is because a lack of taxes. so if you go ahead and do that, not only are you going to lower competition, you'll drive up prices. it's going to be a disaster. it's anti-business. it should not be done. >> and ted, you're on the other side of this, saying that taxing internet sales is simply fairness. >> it is simply fairness. and really, what this comes down to, it's not imposing a new tax at all.

it's just fairness of collection. it's basically saying to all retailers, if you sell it, you apply the same sales tax, regardless of the platform. brick and mortar, remote, internet, however it's done. >> okay, but if that is the area that we're actually seeing activity, do you really want to stunt growth when, in fact, you're seeing folks choose the internet because of the fact that they're not seeing that kind of a tax, they're seeing cheaper prices? >> well, i don't think that that's the sole reason they're going for the internet. i think they're going there for the convenience. going there takes away the sales tax revenue that governments have been relying on for years and years and years. and we as brick and mortar merchants are still required to collect that. so, really, like i said, it comes down to a matter of fairness for the collection. >> but you're going to get more revenue through more sales and in turn, you're going to get more taxation that way, by the money going into the economy. so the reason why people are going on the internet is for the

tax reason and the competitive pricing. so all you're going to do here is hamper sales and the best thing going. 6% of the world right now is ecommerce, with the whole tech eco system growing, with smartphones, with tablets, it's going to continue to grow. that money will trickle down into the economy. you're going to kill it this way. >> it doesn't -- >> the truth is, let me push back on you as well, because is it really fair that if i go into a store i'm paying tax and if i do it online, i'm not? >> it's okay, because the local brick and mortar store is getting the tax benefit of that state. so why should a retailer go ahead and pay tax in a state that they're not in? and it's competition. certain states don't have sales tax and you see businesses going to those states. so let the free market reign out there and stop this madness. >> i'm not so sure it's madness. i think what you're trying to do is, i hate to use the cliche,

but level the playing field here. and regardless of whether somebody's getting a service, these are the sorts of things that drive us as consumers, and if there's sales tax applied to the purchase that i make on the internet, that's not going to be the determinant with that suddenly sends me back one way or another. it will be a factor in where i decide to make my purchases, but that's why it needs to be done. >> i disagree. it will be a factor where somebody buys, based on the tax. and it absolutely is now. >> yeah, but any actual bill would give the states the option to tax, correct? it's not mandated that they do it. >> that's correct. >> but they will do it, because every state -- but you know they'll do it. >> of course they will. >> well, it depends. because you could have some states that get very worked up about some of the changes that may have to come into their tax code. you know, i don't think that it's a foregone conclusion that a state would sign on to this, just because they have the right

to. it makes it a state's right piece. it makes it a fairness of collection piece. and i think that's the beauty of this. it really doesn't set anything differently, as far as -- it doesn't separate two classes of merchants to say one has this benefit that they don't have to collect the sales tax, the other does. >> all right. we'll leave it there, gentleman. it's really an important discussion and we'll come back to it. we hope you'll come back soon. thanks, gentleman. crisis can sometimes spell opportunity with financial companies getting hacked on what seems like a daily event. a good investment could be start-up firms aimed at protecting your money and your privacy. somebody who is putting money into those companies is coming up. and then the highest rated program on cable television today, it's become a cash machine for amc networks and has turned competitors, well, into zombies. robert kirkman, creator of "the walking dead" is here with me and he has a very interesting connection to his show's success and what's happening in the economy over the last few years. back in a moment.

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welcome back. millions watch "the walking dead" on television every week and zombie movies are being churned out by hollywood at a rate reminiscent how vampire flicks were hitting the big screen a few years ago. so zombies are hot and some

stocks are benefiting. brian shactman over with the zombie stocks. >> straight face, give you a lot of credit. zombies are a big deal to the entertainment and investing word. people like these zombie guys. i don't know the reason. but take a look at amc networks, year-to-date, up about 25%. it airs the unbelievably popular "walking dead" show. the stock, very much alive. i can only make so many walking dead puns, so maybe i'll just stop it right there. let's move on to netflix. it streams, obviously, the show exclusively, right? and although it's hardly the reason the stock's up 100%, 96% after today, it probably doesn't hurt the stock. as the current season winds down at the end of the month, a new game from activision blizzard will be coming out. it's called "walking dead: survival instinct." lots of zombies to shoot. the stock up 35% year-to-date. you get the point. now, moving beyond "walking dead" specifically to zombies in

generally, look over my shoulder, "world war z," it's with brad pitt and out this summer, the premise, pitt's character crisscrosses the country to head off a zombie pandemic. it's ruining armies, governments, you name it, classic, and i bet it will make $300 million domestically and $500 million worldwide. >> from zombie stocks to a zombie show, amc's smash hit series "the walking dead" is the biggest thing on cable right now. the creator and executive producer of "the walking dead" believes the popularity of the show may have been helped by the financial crisis and the shaky state of the economy. joining me now exclusively is robert kirkman, the creator of "the walking dead." robert, good to have you on the program. >> thanks for having me. i'm happy to be here. >> i mean, congratulations on this show. it is truly a phenomenon. explain how the mood of the nation, in light of the economic and financial crisis woes played into the success. >> well, i think that the last time zombies were this popular or were anytime close to this

popular were at the '80s at the height of the cold war. so i think that economic unrest and, you know, social, political, you know, bad stuff usually just makes people, you know, gravitate towards material that i think makes them feel a little bit better about the current state of, you know, everybody's lives. i think that, you know, people now are, you know, worrying about how to pay their mortgage and worrying about how they're going to afford groceries and it's nice to sit down on the couch and watch a simpler time, when people are just worried about being chased by zombies. >> it's really funny. i mean, did you actually see evidence that the economy being in a downturn truly sort of helped with the popularity of the show? how do you explain that? >> well, it's really just a theory, when it gets down to it, but i do hear from a lot of people who say that it does make them, you know, feel a little bit better to see somebody at odds with a threat that is, you

know, in a fictional story, it's much more serious, it's much more dire. it makes people feel better about like, oh, you know, i'm just worried about my economic situation. i'm not worried about getting eaten by monsters. so it becomes a kind of a cathartic experience. >> so it costs $2.8 million an episode for "the walking dead." that's a big price tag for a basic cable show. why so much? how come this is so expensive? i mean, the zombie makeup, is it that? is it the stars? what is it? >> it's really about creating an entire world. you know, this is not a show where, you know, we can go down the street and film a house. we have to do a lot of work to the environment to, you know, make it all realistic and to, you know, pull the audience in. so every nook and cranny of "the walking dead" is something that you kind of have to pay for, or else it's not going to look authentic. >> really interesting. so there are zombie vams hitting stores as well, including one based on your show. more movies are on tap,

including "world war z" with brad pitt. how worried are you about zombie overexposure? this is really a big trend right now. >> i've kind of always felt that zombies didn't really get their due, as far as movie monsters go. you see a lot of vampire stuff, see a lot of werewolf stuff, and it's just now getting to the point that zombies are being recognized as being as cool as they actually are. i think we're pretty far away from a saturation point, but you never really know. i'm not worried about it, per se, because it seems like most of the things coming out that are zombie related are of quality. it's once those things start getting hokey and not quite as cool is when things will get into a bit of a downturn. >> were you always a zombie lover? >> i was always a huge fan of zombie fiction. up until the point when "the walking dead" came out, there hadn't ever been a zombie store that actually followed a group of character through this environment, through this world. it always kind of bugged me that you never got to find out, you

know, how people live six months into this world or how they live a year into this world. that's kind of what "the walking dead" became. it's a long-term exploration of, you know, people trying to survive after the fall of civilization. >> and any plans for a "walking dead" movie? >> there's always talk, but there's no definite plans just yet. but who knows what future holds. >> so give us a hint about the supposed. i mean, you've got two more supposed left in this season. already, a lot of leaks online about the upcoming finale. what some of the online guys are saying is that two characters are supposed to die. now, does that include the governor? is the governor going to die? give us the scoop. >> i'm supposed to just tell you? >> yeah! come on. >> you know, it doesn't look good for the governor, i'll say that much. i think that this entire season has been about letting the zombie threat take a bit of a backseat. been doing that for three seasons now. now it's time to show just how dangerous human beings in this world and that's something that, you know, the governor's been

doing in spades. that's been the main conflict of this season. and it's all been coming to this, you know, giant battle that we're going to be seeing in these upcoming supposed. i would expect some pretty explosive things and there are going to be a few character deaths, although i'm not going to say exactly who. >> and then we'll see the whole series on demand, right? >> yes, absolutely. i think amc has done a really good job of, you know, making this show available to people. i think that's really another thing that's been a key to its success. you know, you can sit down on netflix, catch up on old seasons. if you go to amc.com, every now and then, they'll put an episode up there for free. they do marathons, constantly. if you're just casually checking the network, you can see the supposed and catch up and get ready for the new supposed. i think they've been doing a lot of work to drive tune-in in that way. >> and we were just looking at a chart and the stock has been doing very well as well. i don't know what you would attribute to this performance, maybe it's "the walking dead." >> you know, i'm not going to take credit for that, but, yes, it's absolutely just "the

walking dead." it's the only thing driving this stock up. >> we'll leave it there. good to have you on the program. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> we'll keep watching "the walking dead" and we'll see you soon. up next, hacking america pb venture capitalists are putting their money to work at start-ups. battling to protect your money from cybercrime. one of them will join us next. and later, taxing the rich. think it's just washington with a bull's-eye on the so-called wealthy. now your state is looking for more as well. fine out if your state is on our list. back in a moment.

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welcome back. in the wake of recent cyberattacks, securing america online is at the forefront of washington's agenda. top executives from financial firms meeting with secretary treasury lew yesterday on this matter. treasury will not tell us who was at the meeting. cnbc has a request under the freedom of information act and we'll stay on that. but in the meantime, many will see that as a growth opportunity for the cybersecurity industry. my next guest is looking for those companies for his venture capital firm to invest in. he's ted sclooin. it occurs to me in an era where nothing is growing as fast as data, that data has to be organized, secured, protected. now, you weren't at that meeting yesterday, but what do you think about this becoming a higher priority right now? >> i think it's great that it's

finally becoming a high priority. washington has needed to do something to get involved in the cybersecurity debate and if it's taking the realization that the chinese have been doing this for a while to get them involved, i think it's very good. i think involving public and private industry together on the topic is very good as well. >> okay, so where do you think is the growth in this sector? in terms of companies and stocks that you think are going to move on this kind of higher priority, if you will, and more money being pushed toward this issue. >> well, the sophistication of the attacks are completely different today than they have been. and so it's going to be those companies that, quite honestly, are working on what we call these advanced persistent threats. so these brand-new kind of attacks that mostly emanate from the chinese or the eastern europeans. and there's a lot of new companies that are emerging in this area. there's a company called mandiant that i sit on the board of today that's really

pioneering the area of breach detection and monitoring. what do they do? they basically sort of say, trying to prevent somebody from attacking your company, kind of a fool's errand. they're going to get in. there's two kinds of companies out there. those who have breached and know it and those who have been breached and don't know it. everyone in the world is going to have breach detection and monitoring software from a company like a mandiant at some point. and i think there are will be other companies that arise in sector as well. >> as someone who built one of the first anti-virus products at symantec, right? >> that's right. >> you've seen how cyberattacks have evolved over the years. how do you describe the situation right now? i was talking to a banker recently and he told me sometimes 200,000 attempts a day at hacking into the banks. >> well, one, it's amazing that the bank talked to you about it. >> yeah, i know, they don't want to discuss it. but this was just a private conversation. but i was astounded by the number. >> so the number of attacks have

quite honestly, they've always been there. the insidious nature of them have continued to increase. but really, the issue is the stakes have changed. what the bad guys are able to get and how they're able to get it, and therefore, the kind of damage they can cause a company have all gone up over the years. and traditional methodologies, like anti-virus software, really are not well equipped to deal with today's attacks. so those companies are going to need to make some shifts in the coming years to really take, to make sure that they're updating their technology, to protect against these more advanced kinds of attacks. >> and so, what about the opportunities in cybersecurity. in terms of investing, you named a handful of companies there, but is there an area of this business that you think is poised to grow faster than another area? >> well, i do. i think there's going to be a new area around offensive cyber. meaning that it's not going to be good enough that we try and prevent ourselves from attack,

but eventually, the government and general alexander, director of the nsa, talked about this last week, where we're going to set up offensive capability. and that's in the event that it's needed for some purposes, for defense of our country. and that's going to create a whole new industry segment. i work on a company called end game that's in this particular area. there are also going to be new areas to focus on automated attacks. in cyberparlance, we call these bots. bot armies. and the equivalence of stopping these armies from doing what they do, which is really bad, will be the equivalent of a bot wall. so there's a company called shape security that's at the very forefront of creating this. so these are all very new concepts that i think the existing guys are going to have to start adopting. when i say the big security companies of today will have to start adopting, if they're going

to keep up with the bad guys. >> we'll leave it there. very, very important matters, and obviously, big opportunity for you. good to see you, sir. thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me, maria. thank you. up next, taxing matters. states around the country following washington's lead looking for higher taxes, more money from you on who they deem wealthy. our wealth editor robert frank is here. we'll tell you if your state is on his list. and today's the deadline for del suitors to make a takeover bid. plus, the dell trade. stay with us.

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welcome back. no, it did not end in washington. now, states across the country are extending tax increases on the top earners. robert frank now with the low down. robert? >> hey, maria. if you thought the fiscal cliff deal marked the end of tax hikes on the rich, think again. it may just be the beginning. new york governor andrew cuomo is proposing to extend its millionaires tax. the tax was labeled temporary when it passed in 2009, but now, it will be extended a second time, could stay in place until 2017. let's call that the zombie tax. it just didn't go away. seven states imposed temporary millionaire taxes during the recession. now, some have expired, but california, the taxes were

replaced with other tax increases. and some states are now proposing brand new taxes on the wealthy. of course, that's on top of that new federal tax hike. in minnesota, democratic ledge slay churps are proposing a temporary tax on the top 1% of earners to pay down debt for schools. in rhode island, a proposal to raise the top rate to 7.99% from 5.99% to fund the state budget. and from washington state to maine, politicians are now talking increasingly about more fairness in the tax code. but maria, fairness may be going too far, even for liberal talk show hosts. here's what bill maher had to say last week on his hbo show. >> i just want to say, liberals, you could actually lose me. it's outrageous what we're paying. over -- i'm willing to pay my share, but yeah, it's ridiculous. >> yeah, maria, when bill maher is standing up for wealthy tax payers? >> wow. >> you know you've gone too far.

>> knock me out. bill maher admits it. >> yeah. >> just -- so, highest earners, the federal at 39.6, you have new york at 9.8, you have new york city at 3.6. that brings you to 53%, put on that obama care -- >> right. >> 3.6 or 3.8 -- >> yeah. >> another tax. you're talking about 56.8% of your income going right to the government. 56.8%. >> i talked to an accountant today who says his clients say, tell mel what my rate is this year, tell me what i'm spending on taxes compared to last year. people have woken up to this. and, look, whether we're going to see a massive tax flight, if wealth is going to flee the states, we don't know. but for the first time, the wealthy are feeling like, you know what, what is my pain threshold here, it may be too much. >> absolutely. it's really interesting to see bill maher talk about it. i may have to start watching bill maher again. >> that's huge. >> thank you, robert. >> thank you. >> robert frank. is michael getting dell?

the answer will come soon, as competitors only have until midnight tonight to submit higher builds for the computer maker. now the maker has reportedly gotten interest from carl icahn and blackstone. so, will michael dell's offer be enough and will shareholders approve it? let's get into the action with brian stutland and you think share holders are getting a raw deal here? >> i think they're basically -- options traders today were saying, dell's not going above $15 a share here, which means they're not going to get more bidders coming in here. you take your money and run. dell, you talk about the zombie effect in new york. it's basically the walking dead with dell in terms of growth. be thankful that michael dell is taking you out at $14 a share. maybe carl gets it up higher than that. take your money, run. unless they can get in the technology services sector and get growth there, i don't see value in this company. >> take your money and run. wow. michael, you watch this company

so closely, why does michael dell want it for himself? >> i -- i think you meant crawfo crawford. >> my apologies. >> right. this company, as the previous guest is, has languished. it has not been attracting significant investment. they need the flexibility to be able to reinvest in the business. they will likely, as a private company, dial down on the consumer pc business. they will likely invest even deeper in the enterprise gear business. and in the enterprise services business. so that they can really attack larger profit pools. and better their stake in the business. they can't do that, they can't immediately move away from one sector to another. we've already seen that movie with hewlett-packard and what the impact was. so, they need to be able to have that flexibility to invest in the business for the long-term to improve their lot and really go after higher profit pools. >> absolutely. great insights, both of you. thank you, gentlemen.

we'll continue to watch this story. see you soon. stay tuned for "options action," coming up, top of the hour, at a new time, 5:30 p.m. eastern time, right here on cnbc. up next, the one thing that most say will jump start jobs and the economy. so, why are so many people standing in the way of it? back in a moment. new time, 5:30 p.m. eastern